Facebook IPO: After the Hype, Investors are Betting on Hope

Eight years after launching Facebook in a Harvard dorm room, Mark Zuckerberg is about to pull off one of the most valuable stock offerings in U.S. history — and the largest ever in tech — making him one of the world’s richest men, worth nearly $20 billion. Thousands of employees and early investors will reap [...]

There’s always a lot of fanfare when it comes to Initial Public Offerings. The bunting is brought out, the trumpets sound, the people stand up with killer actor and actress smiles and the champagne is popped at the New York Stock Exchange. Then? Sometimes, the hype works, the people are still popping the fizz. But, sometimes, even when the company is doing wonders before being launched on the stock exchange, it suddenly goes all nightmarish on Wall Street and the price just belly-flops instead of doing a super-duper double flip.

One year ago tomorrow, social networking phenomenon Facebook went public in one of the most highly anticipated initial public offerings of the last decade. Leading up to the IPO, which valued the company at a whopping $104 billion — or 100 times earnings — the hype was intense. Facebook, market prognosticators predicted, would soar in the first day of trading, generating easy gains for the investors who rushed for a piece of the action.

One year ago tomorrow, social networking phenomenon Facebook went public in one of the most highly anticipated initial public offerings of the last decade. Leading up to the IPO, which valued the company at a whopping $104 billion — or 100 times earnings — the hype was intense. Facebook, market prognosticators predicted, would soar in the first day of trading, generating easy gains for the investors who rushed for a piece of the action.

Robert Galbraith/ReutersFacebook is a classic Silicon Valley success story: From a Harvard dorm to the top of the world.
It has made Mark Zuckerberg into a legendary figure, and turned a hoodie and tennis shoes the height of tech industry fashion.
These days, Facebook is worth $364 billion, with over 1.71 billion people using the site every month.